Robert Best

Long before "lean in" became a rallying cry for professional women of America, there was "Murphy Brown. " In fall 1988, the sitcom about a brash, unmarried, fortysomething news anchor and recovering alcoholic premiered on CBS. Though it was slow to build into a hit, "Murphy Brown" became a top 5 show, won 18 Emmys over 10 seasons and sparked a contentious national dialogue about single motherhood, thanks to a certain vice president. Played by patrician blond Candice Bergen, Brown may have been physically reminiscent of real-life newswoman Diane Sawyer, but with her irascible and relentless disposition, she was, as creator Diane English famously put it, closer to "Mike Wallace in a dress.

I see (Part A, Jan. 9) that Transportation Director Robert Best has signed contracts with the California Toll Road Co., an international consortium, to build several toll roads in California. What is going on? I read the papers and listen to the news, but this is the first I have heard about privatizing our roads to foreign investors. We can't be taken over by an invading foreign army but we are being taken over just as surely by foreign investors.

South Pasadena officials have asked the state Department of Transportation to establish an independent task force to consider alternatives to building the last link of the Long Beach Freeway. The City Council, with the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, made the request in a letter sent this week to Robert Best, director of the department. A Caltrans spokesman said Friday that the letter had not yet arrived.

Caltrans Director Robert Best has threatened to simply close the highways on which construction workers are exposed to traffic. Best and California Highway Patrol Commissioner Maury Hannigan made a joint plea to drive safely and soberly through highway work zones and "end the slaughter of California highway workers." In less than two months, five Caltrans workers have been killed, including two early this month along Interstate 5 in Stockton who were struck by a suspected drunk driver.

Nick Offerman, who plays surly, meat-lovin' Ron Swanson on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," was at the helm of Thursday's big reveal episode, directing Amy Poehler as she delivered that squeal-worthy "Well, buddy, ... " line. It's the second episode the man with impeccable upper lip hair has directed. And -- spoiler alert -- it was quite the one to take on, as it sees Leslie Knope faced with another major milestone in her life: motherhood. We spoke with Offerman, who is currently in New York, where he's appearing in the off-Broadway production of "Annapurna" with his wife, Megan Mullaly, and asked about his reaction to the big plot twist, geeking out over guest star Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and his thoughts on former costar Rob Lowe's tough life as a handsome man. BEST TV OF 2013 Lloyd | McNamara ------------------------------------- I'm mad at myself because I come into this interview having not had breakfast this morning.

* Shinji Sakai, a 30-year veteran of Toyota Motor Corp., will succeed Yuki Togo as president and chief executive of the firm's Torrance-based U.S. operations, the auto maker said. Togo, 67, will become chairman of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Yale Gieszl was named executive vice president, succeeding Bob McCurry, who was named vice chairman.